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For as long as our records go back,

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humans have been looking to the stars.

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We've used them to navigate,
to track weather and tides,

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and to tell the stories of who we are
and where we come from.

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Here in East Arnhem land,

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that connection to the night sky
has been passed down for generations.

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And now it's being carried
into the future -

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propelled by rocket fuel.

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We're here in Australia!

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And we're going to launch some rockets.

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We're following two NASA rocket missions
as they try to understand

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how stars make the planets
around them suitable for life.

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I'm Miles Hatfield,

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and in this episode we're talking
about living with the stars.

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The rocket range may be new, but
for the people of East Arnhem land,

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an interest in the night sky is about
as far from new as you can get.

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This is the traditional home
of the Yolngu people,

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one of the oldest cultures on earth.

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As owners of the land and partners in
establishing the new Arnhem Space Center,

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they're enriching cutting-edge space
research with thousands

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of years of tradition connecting
them to the night sky

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As the NASA crew arrived in Australia,

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we met Djawa Yunupingu, elder
in the Gumatj clan.

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One of the thirteen clans
comprising the Yolngu nation.

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Djawa is also chairman
of the Gumatj Corporation,

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which represents the interests

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of the Gumatj people
in political and economic affairs.

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He invited us back to Gumatj Corporation
headquarters, where we spoke with him and

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Klaus Helms to learn more about his clan
and their long history with the stars.

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We talk about the stars

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and how

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important  they are to the
Yolngu people, culturally.

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You know, instead of compasses

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we followed the stars

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to get to where we wanted to get to.

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One of the stories Djawa told us
was about a prominent cluster of stars

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known to Westerners as the Pleiades.

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Cultures all over the world
have stories about the Pleiades,

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which are often portrayed as siblings.

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The Gumatj story tells of seven sisters

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who rowed across the sky in a large canoe.

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The Gumatj refer to them as Djulpan,
the Yolngu word for canoe.

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I think this is kind of the Milky Way

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where the stars are here.

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And the seven sisters,

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we sing that in our songlines -

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of the Djulpan.

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Them.

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This is the canoe. The Djulpan.

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According to the story we were told,
the seven sisters fish and gather food

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until they reach their home
beyond the horizon where they cook it.

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The Yolngu say they can sometimes
see the smoke from their fires

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from beyond the horizon.

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In the stories they

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look down, and you know, look over

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the country with us.

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The people that they

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were once, you know.

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Learning these stories was a critical part
of Djawa’s upbringing and a tradition

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he hopes to uphold
for the next generation.

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Whether it's from a painting like this,

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or it’s stories that were handed down

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from generation, you know.

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Because that’s how it happened
back in the days.

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Everything was passed on.

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As the traditional landowners,

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the Gumatj Corporation are leasing
the land to Equatorial Launch Australia

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and have been working with them and NASA
to make the launch range a reality.

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My clan, Gumatj,
they were well behind this.

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We were looking at the future,
kind of a perspective from, from us.

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You know, like the stars play a
very important role in our survival.

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The Gumatj board selected
Klaus Helms to join them in 2011,

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and for the past few years
he's been deeply involved in the project.

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We had many, many,
many meetings with NASA people

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to see if it was even possible.

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When Scott first got here, we were walking
through the bush with a compass,

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through all those trees, and he was trying
to visualize could it be done?

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And you know, we just had to assure him
that yeah we can do it.

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We'll do it. And you know, the next time
he came it was all cleared.

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So, you know, that was a sort of
like a breather for him.

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Thank God, you know, we got a site.

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In a few short days,
that site will be put to its first test

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as propels a rocket into the night sky
for an even clearer view of the stars.

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But there's one star
you can never see at night.

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I'll give you a hint.

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Today it continues to grow our food,
light our way, and keep us warm.

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[crunching sound]

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That's not food.

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[spitting sound]

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That's right! Our sun.

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Next time, how our sun helps us understand
habitable worlds

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elsewhere in the universe
and how it can mislead us.